Caleb's First Shoes

One day after I flew up to Philadelphia for work, Caleb had another landmark experience in his life: buying his first shoes (well actually I guess he wasn't technically the one doing the buying). I always thought that buying shoes for a baby would be a fairly simple process because it's not like he cares if they're stylish or anything and they only fit for a few months. However, after our first Target shoe-shopping trip for Caleb in mid-February, I realized that finding shoes for him would be a little trickier. You see, Caleb is "blessed" with what we refer to as very "meaty" feet. That is to say - they're not so much long and slender as they are just super fat and wide. We found that out the hard way as we tried to cram his feet into standard sized shoes at Target that we just assumed would fit based on the length of his feet. After 15 minutes of screaming and fussing every time we tried to find a good fit at Target - we gave up on the shoe idea for a few weeks.

However, as the weather started to improve, we realized that we would just have to bite the bullet and go the local Stride Rite store to find his custom-fit shoes. Sharon's parents were excited to buy Caleb's first shoes, so they had a fun trip to the mall the day after I left for Philadelphia. As you can see from the pictures' below, he really enjoyed wearing shoes once we were able to find his correct size, which is 5 EXTRA WIDE. It is fun to be able to have him walk around in stores now rather than always having to lug him around, yet now we also have to keep a closer eye on him since he has no qualms about running away from his parents.

The same day that Caleb got his first shoes, we also had a rare winter event: a snowstorm in Atlanta. Since I was in Philadelphia, I missed out on all the fun of watching southerners try to get around in the snow. To add insult to injury, as I was trying to figure out how much snow we were going to get in the Philly area - the weatherman would make a point of saying (with extreme excitement and amusement): "And it looks like they're going have some serious snow in Atlanta!" The one good thing about the storm was that we really did get a good six inches of snow up in Philly and I was able to go sled-riding with my nieces Ella and Catherine while there. Another highlight of the trip was the introduction by Ella (and my sister Megan) to the wonderful world of Webkinz. I also got my fill of Guitar Hero while there and enjoyed catching up with the Demos. As you can see - we still haven't changed the blog name. We've appreciated the suggestions so far, and we promise we'll have a new name by the time I turn 30 (which is coming all too soon!).


Caleb with his mom and grandpa while trying on shoes.


The best way to know that Caleb really likes his shoes: he tries to eat them.

Isn't this what you picture when you think of Atlanta?

"Let me out mom! I want to play in the snow!"

The family on top of nearby Arabia "Mountain" (which is more like a glorified speed bump). This is just days after our snow storm:)

Caleb and Daddy

On The Road Again

The past month or so has been really crazy with travelling - as I have been on the road for work more than I have been home. I had just about gotten fully caught up and settled in following the trip to Colorado when I had to once again prepare to leave for the Philadelphia area where I will be until next Thursday. The Colorado trip went well for me, except for the fact that I received my very first speeding ticket while driving my friend's car :( Needless to say - that ended up making the trip a whole lot more expensive than I had planned on it being. While I was away in Colorado - Sharon had the opportunity to visit with many friends and family in Texas. Since I still haven't gotten all the details on that trip, I'm going to let Sharon make one of our rare writing appearances on our blog. Before I hand over the keyboard - I did have one last question for those of you who may read our blog from time to time. As you probably noticed - our blog name is still "The Nomadic Koerbers", even though we closed on our house in December. The reason for not changing the name yet is primarily the lack of idea for a new name (and the lack of time to think of one). So...if anybody has any good suggestions for our new blog name - please fire them our way. If not - we'll probably just keep this name until we end up moving again in a few years. Now that your anticipation and excitement has been piqued, here's Sharon:

Well, I just thought we are still "The Nomadic Koerbers" since we have still been living out of our suitcases?!? Anyway, I too would love to hear name suggestions! Our first adventure to Texas went great. Caleb traveled well and other than waking at 4:30 am on Sunday morning (I guess he was just really excited to hear Tom Pennington preach) he slept pretty well too. It was a bit of a whirl-wind so if we missed you while we were there I am really sorry. Honestly I think the best way to describe the trip is with pictures and captions; please see below. Thank you to everyone who allowed us to stay with them and who made time to meet with us and our crazy schedule. Love you all!!!


Caleb really excited to borrow the Ramos Family car...thanks Rick for the keys! We had a great breakfast with the Ramos' and Caleb loved Kim's quiche.


Caleb also very excited to meet Aunt Donna...we drove to College Station to meet for dinner with my Aunt Donna, cousin Deb and her boys Sam and Luke. Caleb loved Luke and his Oreo Madness!


Caleb with his mommy at Chisholm Park. This is the park that my mommy and daddy would take me to as a little girl. Caleb was more excited by the slide then feeding the ducks...he wanted to eat the bread himself:)


Caleb getting a big squeeze from his new buddy Caed. Caed is the son of Courtney (and Jesse), one of my dear roommates from Master's College. We had a great play date in Ft. Worth.


Caleb cuddling with Miss Alyssa Bennett. Caleb and I stayed most of the time with Julia and Andrew and had a great time there. In case you don't know Julia and I our best of buds from childhood and roommates in college. We tried (unsuccessfully) at setting up our siblings so that we could be related...we are now on to our kids:) Andrew has already talked to Caleb about his intentions!


Caleb and his mommy with her Aunt Marge and Uncle Lou at our Waco lunch date. During our stay with Erin and Shane we met up for lunch...Caleb loved Aunt Marge...I think it is because she sends him so many Hallmark cards:)


Caleb laughing with his daddy (not a Texas video). Mike was just trying to give him low fives instead of high fives:)

An Important "First" for Caleb (and his parents)

The big moment finally arrived after 1 year, 1 month, and 10 days (but it's not like I was counting or anything). Yesterday was - drum roll, please - the first time that Caleb's parents went out before he went to sleep. Yes, it was a little hard for us to believe as well - but it was something that just wasn't feasible as long as Caleb was nursing. There had been many times that Sharon and I have gone out for a dinner and movie after Caleb had gone to sleep for the night. However, yesterday evening was the first time that we went away and let somebody else put him down for the night. Caleb did a great job - as he didn't even miss a beat after Sharon and I left around 6:00 PM for our dinner and movie Valentine's Day date. Aunt Hilary had the honors of putting him to bed an hour and a half later - and the little guy went right to sleep without even asking where mommy and daddy where. All in all - the evening was a huge success, and we are looking forward to repeating this experience in the near future now that we know how easy it is (for now).

The main reason that Sharon and I went out for Valentine's Day a day early (other than to avoid the crowds) was because we are flying separate directions today. In a few hours, I will be flying to Colorado for a conference for work, and Sharon will be flying to Texas with Caleb to visit all her friends and family there. Though we're obviously going to be sad to be apart for the next five days, I am excited that Sharon gets to visit everybody in Texas, as our plans to go as a family just never seemed to work out. Following we have just a few Caleb pictures, as our camera had been misplaced for the last week or so. Hopefully, Sharon will have a lot more fun pictures of Caleb with his new friends in Texas to share with you next week.

Caleb and daddy decked out for the Super Bowl

This is Caleb trying to "help" change the locks on the door

Our Headbanging Baby

Over the past two weeks, it has been incredible to see how much more Caleb likes to walk instead of crawling - which is mostly a good thing. I say mostly a good thing because he definitely hasn't mastered that whole balance thing quite yet. Sharon says that he reminds her a little bit of E.T. when he got drunk while Elliot was away at school (and I don't know how she still remembers that scene). His walking style reminds me a bit of Frankenstein, which I guess isn't so much of a complimentary comparison either. I know that babies heads are supposed to be pretty sturdy - but after bonking his head 4 or 5 times today, I'm seriously considering making him wear his bike helmet all day. I am pretty impressed that he doesn't seem to have developed any sort of negative association with walking and the frequently resulting banging of his head off the ground, furniture, or both. I'm hoping that this persistence on the walking front means he will soon be running and out on the soccer field by spring.

As far as our house, we're still painting slowly but surely. I've included a picture of Caleb's bedroom as it was a huge victory to get at least one room done. We're inching closer to having the kitchen almost completely finished - though the cabinets may be another few months since we are removing and repainting all the doors. It has been nice to be able to host people at our house already - as a Bible study at our new church has started meeting here every week. It's been a good way to start getting connected with the community and the ministry going on here - though we're trying not to get too involved until we are a little more settled into our house. In response to our last blog post - we already have had two painters visitors take us up our offer to escape the frozen north for some good old Georgia sunshine. Our seminary friends Bill and Alice drove down from Pennsylvania and we had a great two and a half days of painting, playing games, and enjoying the southern weather. As I write that sentence - I realize I've already turned into one of those obnoxious people who always gloats about their weather. Remind me of that in July and August when I can't leave the air conditioning before nightfall for fear that I will get instantaneous heat stroke. Well, since Sharon is currently painting by herself, I guess I should end this post and commence dribbling paint all over our new kitchen hardwood floor.


Caleb and Mommy putting on their game faces before the AFC Championship

Caleb's bedroom (and the only completely done room in the house)

Just like his daddy, Caleb can even be tickled by "remote control"

Here's some video of our drunk E.T./Frankenstein walking

Look Who's Walking!

There's so much that's gone on in the past couple of weeks that I don't really know where to begin. As you can see by the title - Caleb has officially hit the authentic walking stage. I always thought that we would get a great video of Caleb's first steps, but I honestly don't even know when that would be since he has been taking a step or two for the last several weeks. After taking about ten steps on his own several times this evening - I'm ready to classify Caleb as a bona fide toddler. The video below shows some of his baby steps from two nights ago - but it is amazing how much more confident he has gotten on his feet in just the last two days. It's also great to see how much hair he grew during his time up north over the holidays. Although he has yet to be mistaken for Sasquatch, it was a great achievement for him when he was able to experience the first bed-head of his life a few weeks ago.

In addition to walking and growing hair, Caleb really enjoys exploring his new home. He loves crawling and toddling around the house and finding new things around every corner. We're just a little paranoid that some of those new things may be rusty nails that the contractor left behind - so we still have to keep a real close eye on him. However, Sharon loves the fact that she can be cooking dinner while watching him play in the family room - something that I appreciate as well since it means meal prep is much less stressful :)

As far as the work on the house - it still seems to me like an endless mountain of painting and moving that we still have to climb. However, it was exciting to finish painting our pantry so we at least have a place to store food now. We're on the verge of finishing painting Caleb's room so it will be really nice to have at least one room in the house completely finished. However, if anybody has a real love for painting, we still have plenty of work left to do and really would love to have free labor visitors. Especially for those of you suffering in the frigid Northeast and Midwest - why not take a vacation down to Georgia and enjoy our balmy above-freezing (barely) temperatures. To show you our appreciation for the free labor visit, we would even offer free room and board! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the following long-overdue pictures and I'll try not to let all the work on the house completely steal away my blogging time.

Caleb acting calm while in his high chair...a very rare sight.


Caleb's first Christmas present (which was bought by Grandma and Grandpa Maynard when Caleb was all of two days old)


As you can see, it took Caleb a while to get used to sharing the spotlight with his cousins...


Though we finally got him to pose with his cousin Nora


Caleb's first birthday cake made by his mommy



As you probably guessed, he really enjoyed it.


His Nama thankfully got him a winter hat to protect his bald head fom the Pennsylvania weather


Caleb had a blast riding with his cousin Isaac on the way to the airport


Caleb is definitely a vocal little guy


Some of Caleb's first steps

Christmas Highlights

As usual, the Christmas season just seemed to fly right by this year. We were so focused on closing and moving into our new home that we never really felt like we had the time to prepare for Christmas. Before we knew it, it was Christmas eve and we were scrambling to get everything ready for our Christmas day flight to Pennsylvania. We did enjoy our time with Sharon's family on Christmas morning and were also excited to have one of our boys from BFA join us as well for a few days. On Christmas afternoon we flew up to Pittsburgh and then drove one of my brother's car over to Clearfield.

We arrived in Clearfield late Christmas night and had a few days with the entire family. Caleb was a bit overwhelmed by all the kids running around, but he was starting to feel a little more comfortable after a day or two. Just as much of the family was leaving and things were starting to quiet down at my parents' house, the stomach flu decided to pay me a visit. I had one of the most miserable nights of my life on Monday night - but I will spare you the gory details of that experience :) In true Christmas spirit, I shared this "gift" with Caleb so that he got to experience his first sickness of this type. The only upside of it all is that I now feel like a real parent after going through the experience of having my son puke on me. Sharon also got the illness - but she handled it much than me of course. We actually have all sorts of fun pictures from the last few weeks (though thankfully none of the illnesses), but we unfortunately left our camera connector cord in Atlanta, so we can't get them posted. All the more to post next time...

New House Pictures

So I don't know who's idea it was to buy and renovate a house in the weeks before Christmas - but I definitely would not recommend this experience to anybody else. We had hoped to be able to close on our house before Thanksgiving, but our closing date unfortunately got pushed back two weeks into December. Initially, I didn't think that would be a really big deal - though it seems like our move-in date keeps getting pushed back as well. At this rate, we're hoping to get into our house in time for Christmas - only to have to leave for our two week visit to Pennsylvania the next day. However, it will be really nice to have a home to return to when we fly back from Pennsylvania. We'll still have some work to do in painting, refacing cabinets, etc. - I am a little worried that we have a long road ahead of us. My brother-in-law was quick to increase those fears with a resounding "welcome to the money pit!" after hearing that we finally closed on the house. As a person who has an acute case of "project phobia" - I'm trying hard to not get overwhelmed with all of the changes that we could make. As you can see from the pictures, it is far from a "fixer-up," so we can definitely take it one step at a time.

For those of us who could care less about our house - but are wanting more Caleb pictures - I've also included some pictures of him from the last few weeks. He really seemed to enjoy Thanksgiving - as any celebration that involves lots of food is alright in his book. He still is just on the verge of walking, as he stands longer on his own and has really improved his balance. We're still hoping that his first steps will come in time for Christmas, but I guess you can never tell for sure. We promise we'll focus on Caleb more once we get settled in our house, and then this blog will once again regain its rightful focus.

In front of our new home

A little free advertising for the seller's realtor

The family room with fireplace

The formal living/dining room that is shrinking as we expand the kitchen

Our deck (which will be great for eating outside)

Our little angel (yeah right)

Practicing his politician skills


"Let me at...I can eat the whole drumstick"

Thankful for so much!!!

Hello everyone, this is Sharon! I just wanted to say hi and let you all know that I am still here:) Actually I am here all by myself, because Mike is away for the week at the CrossGlobal Link Conference (formally IFMA). I just wanted to share a few things real quick.
First of all I just wanted to share that we had a great Thanksgiving and Caleb loved his first taste of turkey. He definitely lived up to his little piglet status.
I also wanted to pass on my dad's blog site; http://www.maynardsonmission.blogspot.com/. God is doing some great things (no surprise there) and we are particularly thankful that he returned safely from his last trip!
We are also thankful this week for our new home...we closed on Monday and it went so well. On our way down to closing we were listening to some Bebo when one of my favorites came on...you know the wedding song he wrote for his brother. Well he speaks of the God's grace falling like rain and that is definitely how I feel...God is so good to us.
Hope you all are having a great day...we miss you all...you can come and visit now:)

Caleb the Oinker

I always thought that one of the greatest trials in parenthood is getting your child to eat well. Now I know that stage may come later with Caleb - but I can honestly say that we have yet to have that sort of problem with our little oinker. Our issue is more of how to get him to stop eating - as he'll eat everything that we prepare for him and then have the nerve to try to eat off of his parents' plates as well. He has yet to meet a food that that he hasn't liked - as he eats everything from fruits to vegetables to meats to breads. If he wasn't so darn active crawling around all the time, I'd be seriously worried about an ultra-early onset of childhood obesity. Overall, he's a pretty happy baby - but his most demanding and impatient behavior surfaces if Sharon or I dare take a second too long in between bites when we're feeding him. He also hasn't quite learned the distinction between Caleb's food and his parents' food - as he'll go nuts if we don't give him at least a morsel of whatever we're trying to eat. Though I do appreciate his good eating habits, I'm secretly a little disappointed that I don't get to do the "airplane spoon" trick to interest him in eating. The one time I tried that trick just for fun - he shot me a disgusted "why are you messing around - GET THAT FOOD IN MY MOUTH!" look that revealed that he knows that food is for eating and not for playing.

Some of you may also be wondering what the latest on our house is since we were supposed to be closing this past week. The homeowner was willing to fix some of the issues that came out in the inspection, but unfortunately that also pushed our closing date back to December 1. We just found out that our loan was also officially approved so we will be homeowners in exactly 9 days from now - barring anything unforseen from arising. It's definitely exciting, but also a little scary and overwhelming for me as we're immediately undertaking the kitchen remodel project. I never thought I'd actually enjoy going to Home Depot or Lowes - but I have a feeling that we'll be making many trips there in the next few months so I better start liking it. That's all for now as our next blog entry will hopefully be as proud, new homeowners.

What is it about a cardboard box that brings hours of sheer bliss?

Unfortunately, Caleb still relies on his calculator for more complex multiplication problems.

Caleb's maiden voyage up the steps (I love how Sharon asks "Oh my gosh, he's standing!" like he's juggling flaming swords or something)


"Dadda" or random babble? - you be the judge

Housing Update #2

Well, a lot has changed in our housing search over the past two weeks. We did make an offer on a house about two weeks ago and have been under contract since then. Last Monday, we had the inspection done - and it definitely raised some concerns about how much money we would need to put into it right away. I am definitely not a "project guy" so the thought of having to redo some stuff on our own is a little intimidating to say the least. The most immediate area of concern is the tiny kitchen (pictured below), but we do have the option of pushing a wall back to give us more space there. Over the next two days, we'll be negotiating with the seller concerning some of the items we would like to have taken care of before we would move in. We also need to get a quote from a contractor to see if we could afford to move the wall in the kitchen as we had planned. As I am admittedly an over-analyzer, Sharon and I have gotten to the point that we're feeling a bit of "analysis paralysis," but we're going to need to make a decision for sure by Thursday at the very latest.

On the Caleb front - he has recently become more of a babbler on the verge of his first really word. I really think that he is already starting to say "da-da" and I think it will be just a few days before he's saying Polamalu - in reference to his favorite Steeler. He definitely is quite the extrovert (just like his dad) as he was having a bit of a fussy day on Sunday and we were really concerned to take him on the scheduled nursing home visit with our church small group. Once he got there - he turned in to a veritable prince charming as he smiled and flirted with all the old ladies (and some of the old men as well). One other thing we've noticed recently is his development of those irrational fears. Caleb loves the sound of white noise and the looks of electronics - but if you put these two items together into a hair dryer and a vacuum cleaner, it induces shear terror in our little guy. If Caleb sees a vacuum, hairdryer, or space heater - he instantly goes into freak out mode even if they aren't turned on. Hopefully this is something he will grow out of soon as I was hoping to have him vacuuming our house as soon as he learned how to walk.

The front of our potential new home

The tiny kitchen that we would want to expand somehow


Caleb loves his tongue!

Happy Baby!

Is this a Theo face?


Who needs a crib when you have a laundry basket?